1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to information collection and analysis and, more particularly, relates to the collection of data from a plurality of distinct sources and linking that information in light of marketplace activity to acquire richer and more detailed information about an entity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Threats to the marketplace are continuously evolving, becoming more complex and more prevalent. Some statistics show that 7-9% of global trade, and 10% of the sales on the Internet, relate to counterfeit goods. Counterfeiting is a multi-dimensional problem. If the goods being sold are drugs, for example, an ingested counterfeit drug may result in serious health consequences. If the drug is diverted and sold through a different distribution channel than originally intended, the drug may end up in a different country, be sold for below or above market price, be sold in a country without conforming to necessary regulations, and the company manufacturing the drug may lose significant profits and/or be charged with misleading the public in its sales. It is desirable to acquire as much information about the sale of products and services so as to limit these exposures.
In recent years, Internet retailers of counterfeit and diverted goods have increasingly leveraged the Internet to directly market infringing products to global consumers. Internet retailers are combining websites, advertising portals, affiliate programs, banner advertisements, search engine placements, and unsolicited bulk email to reach a far broader and wealthier consumer demographic than was historically accessible to black and gray markets.
The act of acquiring intelligence and evidence on particular activities is necessary in many endeavors. In the legal arena, acquiring solid, highly reliable evidence is crucial in advancing a party's theory in a case. If the evidence acquired does not have a certain minimum level of veracity, it may not even be admissible in courts of law. For businesses, acquiring intelligence about competitors is beneficial in determining marketing strategies. Businesses may even desire to learn more information about how their own businesses are operating. Complex businesses using many different supply chains and/or distribution channels, may desire to learn more about the entities in channels they are using to ensure that products are not given to distributors who have a history of diverting or counterfeiting goods.
Some prior art intelligence and evidence acquisition methods gather information about an entity from open sources such as government records or court filings. Those records include basic information about an entity such as an address, company name, etc. If two entities share some of the same information (e.g. they share the same address) some prior art methods are capable of even linking these two entities and indicating that they are related in some manner. Other prior art systems receive limited data about an entity from a client but do not supplement such data with information available to the public from open sources. For example, in response to a query relating to Product X, these prior art systems may indicate that there are 10,000 sellers of product X but will not link that information with openly available sources of information.
Such prior art systems are also generally static in that they typically represent a snapshot in time of information gathered about an entity from limited sources. These systems do not evolve to provide an updated view of an entity as more information is acquired about the entity. Further, there is no means in the prior art systems for intelligent linking of acquired information.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a system and method for acquiring more complete information about an entity, and intelligently linking that information.